The Graduate School of Management of SPbU, the School of Management of Harbin Polytechnic University and the REC Export School will jointly teach the peculiarities of transnational business between Russia and China. The corresponding cooperation agreement was signed between the universities during the state visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to China on 16-17 May 2024.

VTB Bank and the Russian Export Centre (REC) will be the initiators and partners in the development and implementation of additional education programmes on the Russian side.

In 2024, the organisers plan to train the first two groups of businesspeople from Russia and China. The programme of additional professional education, consisting of online and in-person offsite modules, will allow trainees not only to understand at a theoretical level how to do business with new foreign partners, but also to lay a stable foundation for quality interaction during business missions.

‘Co-operation between Russia and China is reaching a new level. For further mutually beneficial development of this partnership, a deeper immersion into the culture and peculiarities of doing business in our countries is necessary. GSOM SPbU as a leading business school with the assistance of the leader of the financial sector, VTB Bank, and the state institute for non-resource export support, REC, are ready to share the most advanced knowledge and practical expertise with Russian companies interested in doing business with China and Chinese partners building business relations with Russia,’ — said Olga Dergunova, Deputy President and Chairman of the Management Board of VTB Bank and Director of GSOM SPbU.

St. Petersburg University supports long-term academic co-operation with universities in China. Thus, in 2019, an agreement was concluded on the establishment of a joint campus of SPbU and Harbin Polytechnic University, which was opened on 17 May 2024. The joint educational centre will become one of the flagships of Russian-Chinese cooperation in education and science. In addition, in April 2024, the Chinese Minister of Education, Comrade Huai Jinpeng, visited St. Petersburg University to discuss strategic cooperation between the two countries in science and education.

‘Last year, the REC Export School took the first steps towards implementing joint initiatives at the international level by organising a business negotiation tournament between universities from Russia and China, in which students from Harbin Polytechnic University also took part. Today we are especially pleased to enter into official cooperation on the development and implementation of an international educational programme for business with the participation of such powerful partners, including the School of Management of Harbin Polytechnic University. There is no doubt that the result of such co-operation can become an excellent example of combining the efforts and experience of the two countries in the development of business education,’ — said Alicia Nikitina, General Director of the REC Export School.

Synopsis:

GSOM SPbU is a leading Russian business school established on the basis of St. Petersburg State University, the oldest Russian university, the largest centre of science, education and culture. It is the only one in Russia to hold the so-called ‘triple crown’ of international accreditations, independent associations AACSB, EQUIS and AMBA, and is among the top 1% of the world's best business schools with similar recognition. It is a recognised centre for research and education in management. VTB is a member of the GSOM SPbU Board of Trustees, along with leaders from business, government and the international academic community.

Harbin Polytechnic University (HIT) is a major research university and a member of the C9 League (an alliance of elite universities in the People's Republic of China). Its campuses are located in Harbin (Heilongjiang Province), Weihai (Qingdao Province), and Shenzhen (Guangdong Province). According to the QS World University Rankings for 2024, HPU is ranked 256th in the world, and US News & World Report ranks it 196th among the best universities in the world. KPU has 2,900 full-time faculty members, including 1,950 professors and associate professors, 41 academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering.

JSC Russian Export Centre (REC Group, part of VEB.RF) is a state institute for supporting non-resource non-energy exports, which provides financial and non-financial assistance to companies in all sectors at all stages of entering foreign markets, including within the framework of the national project ‘International Cooperation and Export’. The REC Group also includes the Russian Export Credit and Investment Insurance Agency (EXIAR), ROSEXIMBANK and the Autonomous Nonprofit Organisation Export School.